Let Them Eat Cake

Mistakes, failures, blemishes, errors......   are they for real?  I mean honestly - none of us are immune from these things so can they really be what they are perceived to be?  Are they something to be seen as negative?

The older I get, the more beauty I see in flaws.

I've been going back this week.....waaaaaaayyyyy back - back to times even before I was born!  I have been thinking about the concept of generational sin - you know the saying "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree".  Whether this is supported by genetics or upbringing is debatable but the pattern is a definite.  All of us struggle with some of the same things our parents or grandparents did.   When I think of some of the ugly things my ancestors did, I have mixed emotion and when I parallel those things with some of the things I've done, I am dumbfounded (and very ashamed).  What I realized this week that surprised me however, is that I have carried shame for some of the things that THEY did that are completely independent from me!  Why am I carrying around the burden of THEIR sin???   That was all I needed and I feel much better now that I can release myself from that crazy yoke.

I still have my own yokes however and I'm dealing with them. BUT as I look back at the lives of those I've loved, knowing so many of their flaws ( and not all of them I'm sure), I also realized that I love them just the same.  They are still just as beautiful to me as they always have been.  I also realized that because they are flawed, maybe they are even more beautiful.  They may have scars but those scars show the tough times they were able to overcome and that gives me hope.

I was reminded of a portion of a blog I wrote in 2009:
And how about the big picture? Get up close to a painting and you might find all kinds of blips and smudges that weren't intended. Step back a few paces and there's a masterpiece before you. And sometimes - it's the flaws that make the art piece unique and therefore priceless. I can honestly say I have enough unique flaws, that when looked at in the right light, I might just be rated a masterpiece. Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I know at least one beholder who happens to see me in just the right light. And oh - how thankful I am for his loving critique.

It also makes me think of my clocks.  I have a small antique clock collection.  For some reason, I was drawn to these clocks so I started buying them at garage sales, antique stores, etc when I ran across them.  None of them work and none of them were expensive (all less than $5).  They are all different colors, shapes, and sizes but they all have their own unique qualities that drew me to them.  They stuck out to me in the midst of a whole bunch of other "junk".   They are not junk to me....  I love them.  They make me smile when I look at them.  Why - because they are so much like me.  Broken.... but able to be used for good in spite of that. 

And as for the hard times in life I think about cake. (not the old have my cake and eat it too philosophy) but rather what is something so sweet and decadent made of?  Flour, eggs, oil, baking soda or powder, salt...... and sugar.  With the exception of sugar, all those other things by themself are nasty!  Stir them together, add something sweet, spark a little fire to bake the mixture and you've got a great dessert!  So even though life deals us some nasty stuff - there is always a little sugar to mix in and always a little spark to ignite our flame that tranform our lives into something sweet and decadent.  

Suddenly I have an urge to go paint a picture of a clock shaped cake ;-)